The Gifted Fund

Cathy Cottrill

USDF Region 3

My Incredible Journey: an adult amateur's adventure with the horse of a lifetime

It doesn't get any better than this. That thought kept dancing through my head as Stella and I went sailing down the long side in medium canter right after doing our first flying changes ever. I was beaming like a Cheshire cat and my partner seemed to know she'd done something special. Thank you, Sue Mandas, and thank you, Dressage Foundation. There was no doubt in my mind who I wanted to train with when I received news that Estrella and I had won a Gifted Fund training grant. SueMadden-Mandas (S) was at the top of a very short list of trainers. I'd been fortunate enough to ride Estrella in clinics with Sue ever since I bought my mare as a green broke 3-year-old in 2002.

A year later, we were ready for some intensive time with Sue and I was elated to learn that I'd won a Gifted Fund grant. Yet another dream had come true. My training grant allowed me to spend four days immersed in dressage, soaking up every tidbit of wisdom that came out of Sue's mouth. Not only did Stella and I make huge strides toward our goal of second level, but I had the pleasure of seeing Sue's other students make progress as well.

First day: After observing our warm-up, made better by following Sue's advice to "canter first, even it if it's a train wreck," we went straight to work on some suppling exercises at rising trot to get Stella's attention. A series of serpentines got her limber and more into contact on the outside rein. The four-loop exercise also got her mind off the horses pastured all around the arena that were trying to catch her eye!

After the serpentines, we went to shoulder in, followed by haunches in and some leg yields. "Now, let's do some half steps," said Sue. I was thrilled, because I'd been hoping it was time to start Stella on this exercise. Using the entire arena, and coaching me on "left leg, right leg," with tiny taps of the whip, Sue got us to actually perform half steps and coaxed Stella to lower her haunches. Since I've never ridden piaffe or passage, I wasn't sure what I should be feeling, but I knew it when it happened. Suddenly, Stella lowered beneath me and took a couple steps of something very, very collected. What a light bulb moment!

After a walk break, we went to canter, working on getting Stella really forward and then collecting the canter in spiral circles. "Start thinking canter pirouettes," Sue advised. "Bring the shoulders in." Following some pretty nice canter work; we ended on a happy note with stretching at the trot.

Day Two: Stella was a bit tired today, making trot work more of a challenge, but I finally got her in front of my leg. Today's suppling exercise was leg yielding within a serpentine, to accomplish a better change into the new outside rein. I'd never done this exercise, and am somewhat dyslexic to boot, so it proved to be a challenge. When I finally got it down pat, we were suddenly bending very correctly through the serpentine.

We spent more time on canter work today, spiraling in to collect the canter. It took a pretty good boot with the spur to convince Stella she could truly do this exercise. She voiced her disapproval with a hearty buck and a scoot across the arena that drew laughs from ringside. "So when's the last time you fell off?" joked Sue. From there, we worked on getting Stella to lift her shoulders and produce a livelier canter. Shoulder-in on the long side, combined with touches of the whip on the inside shoulder, did the trick perfectly. Suddenly we were bounding along in a quite expressive canter. Today's session ended with work on the walk pirouettes. I'm still hearing Sue's voice in my head: "Haunches, haunches, haunches." And I'm still slightly dizzy from revolving slowly around as Stella figured out she could indeed do this exercise. Time for a horsey bath and some sugar cubes. I'm so proud of my girl.

Our third day begins with more lateral work and rapid transitions to increase engagement. Shoulder-in, haunches in, renver, until Stella was as supple as a noodle. Then Sue told us to do a half pass. We nailed them in both directions, but still struggled with the haunches leading when going to the right. Once I got the shoulder-in concept cemented in my head, the trot half passes were proclaimed good. After a break, we began the canter work, with strong emphasis on consistently riding it in shoulder fore – especially to the right – to keep Stella's shoulders up. Then it was on to smaller and smaller circles. I was amazed at how well Stella carried herself. "Now that's your canter," Sue said as we circled her. "That's your second level canter." We ended on that happy note and headed back to the barn tired but pleased with ourselves. Stella slept very well that night.

Our final session with Sue, however, was our best yet. After a warm-up in which Stella was unusually distracted (by a horse being hacked out along the road near the ring), we finally got it together and started some real work. Again, we schooled lateral work, followed by medium trot, but this time I was ordered to sit. OK, so that didn't go well. I had to remind myself that a year ago, I could barely sit my mare's working trot at all and now that her back is staying consistently up, it's almost effortless. This will eventually happen with the medium trot also, I hope!

Then on to the canter, with a series of walk-canter, canter-walk transitions that began increasing the jump in the canter. Next came oodles of 10-meter canter circles. Again, Stella managed this efficiently. So efficiently, in fact, that Sue began asking us to do more than I thought we were capable of doing. "OK," she said, "come across the diagonal and show me a flying change." I entered my mind to tell her I'd never schooled changes with this youngster, and only ridden them on one horse in my entire life. Better yet, I told myself, just shut up and ride. And that's when we had that defining moment, when we did the change, it was clean, and Sue was hollering "good job." We even changed directions and got a change from left to right, Stella's difficult side.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't proud of my horse. Of all the relationships I've had in my life, my bond with Stella is one of the strongest I've ever experienced. I bought her three years ago in a leap of faith, after being assured by her owner/breeder, author Paul Belasik, that she was "so well balanced she could canter on ice and so sane you could shoot a gun off of her." He was right on both counts. I credit Paul's Andalusian stallion, Excelso for giving Stella her fabulous temperament, and Paul himself for laying the groundwork that gave her a classical start in dressage. When I sold my FEI schoolmaster three years ago and started over with a green broke mare, I had no idea where dressage would take us. In that time, Stella has far exceeded my expectations and taken me places I never thought I'd go. It's been an incredible journey with the partner of a lifetime. Second level, here we come!

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